Other Kreacher

History:

Bought in 2005 from Jim Fai in Minnesota. Previously imported from England. Appeared to have been rescued from MOT failure or the scrapper at some point by evidence of extensive welding and front end replacement with scrap steel sheeting. It still had a 2005 MOT on when I got it, so it must have passed at least the last one. Assumed to have original 998cc engine and original red interior, but with these old cars, who knows? Won first place awards at Spring Thing 2009, Mini 50 2009, and MMEMW 2009. Recently featured in MC2 Magazine (Dec-Jan 2010) and Mini Magazine (April 2010).

Drivetrain Mods:

This is where it gets really interesting. SOHC Honda D16Z6 1600cc VTEC engine and 5-speed tranny. Yep. All mounted to the car with a Mini Tec MTD custom subframe. Basically stock motor with the addition of a cold air intake. But considering that this motor has about 90 horsepower more than the original lump, why mess with it? Power goes to the Mini Cooper spec (that's the Classic Mini Cooper) hubs by way of hybrid Honda to Mini drive shafts.

Suspension Mods:

The front end uses coil-over shocks mounted to the Mini Tec subframe. There are blue road coil springs and G-Max gas shocks in the rear. The brakes are Outlaw Racing 9.5 inch 4-pot discs in the front and Superfin drums in the rear. Wilwood racing master cylinders and pedals help get it stopped.

Wheels and Tires:

175/50-13 Yokohama A539 tires on Australian Performance Superlite 8-spoke wheels.

Packages:

Yes, it can carry packages in the boot.

Exterior Mods:

All body work redone to a better standard. Not saying perfect, but certainly better. Repainted in Blood Red and Whitehall Beige, as close to the factory colors as I could get it. Mini Sportpack style wheel arch extensions added.

Interior Mods:

Still sporting parts of the red interior as it came to me, such as the rear seat, dash rails, door cards, carpet and headliner. Mazda Miata leather bucket seats installed by myself on modified slider tracks to fit the original seat mounting brackets. This after dyeing the formerly tan seats red to match the rest of the interior. All new birch wood dash built by myself patterned after original elm dash, but with extra holes in the center panel for the new Auto Meter electronic gauges.

Ice Mods:

Being in this car is seriously entertaining. Oh, you meant the sound system. Custom built under-rear-seat board (again by me) to match the dash and mounting two 5 inch JVC speakers, Sony stereo with USB, iPod dock and 12vdc power outlet. Two old-school Pioneer surface mount speakers on the rear parcel shelf.